miss belle

ella bella wanted to show marmee how she does this amazing trick

 

here's what went down in december...

 there were supposed to be three trees in this little grouping,

but I felt lucky to get these two put together.

and they're still up!

I love having the sparkling white lights in the evenings.

 I celebrated my 41st birthday on Dec 10th!

my parents sure are old.

kara sent me these beauties and I loved them!

  ella had a chorus concert on my birthday.

they were fantastic!

here she is with her dear friend, lil and their chorus teacher

 this is what 41 looks like on me.

not terrible!

 ella was a little nervous with all that fire on the cake!

 in this oven are 2 hams being warmed for the ward Christmas party.

I did a good job of delegating!

 afton claims this santa hat has magical healing powers.

her headaches after school always went away

and it helped her sleep better at night.

I don't know...

 ella and I are being silly

 ella also had a band concert.

here she is with miss hayley

 aftie was exhausted and happy to have a nap on the

last day of school/first day of break

aftie had an orchestra concert in there somewhere, but unfortunately I missed it

due to the relief society party. 

I was sad to miss it.

 here's our awesome Christmas photo

all gussied up for church in our new outfits

with only an ipad to photograph us.

we probably could have chosen a better background.

maybe the fireplace

or standing in front of the Christmas tree

or anywhere else.

 we celebrated ella's birthday with a few friends

going to the annie movie

and lunch at red robin

 every single one of these girls

is completely full of it!

fun and funny!!

 afton and ella were able to play

at the nursing home

for a little Christmas piano recital.

they both played beautifully

and enjoyed their first recital!

 Christmas eve was spent with dear friends,

including a

production of the nativity

directed, produced by and starring

the children!

 Christmas day was filled with

gifts,

loves,

pjs

movies

snuggling

games

puzzles

and

delicious treats!

 our dear Hayley wasn't able to attend the

annie and red robin bday party,

so we got to celebrate with her later.

fun lunch for the girls and the moms!

 I'm so lucky to have so many fun friends!

we met at fro-yo for a quick get together one night,

but I was especially glad to go and introduce my new friend, Kim to all the girls.

she's the one right across from me.

she's been megan's friend from Pocatello

and now she's my friend

since she moved to Buffalo!

 what would new year's eve be without bingo?

here's the bingo master

getting setup for the big game later in the evening.

ryan buys all the gifts,

wraps all the gifts

buys the m&ms for the markers

and then calls the numbers

and runs the whole game!

he makes it so fun for everyone

kids & adults!!!

 we played lots of games on new years with our fun friends!

we supplied bingo and clue

 the damstedts brought some of their fun games too.

we always order Chinese-it's tradition!

and brad makes egg rolls or dumplings

and they're amazing!

 happy new year!!

 now it's January

and we have snow

yay.

 luckily we have snuggly blankets

and snuggly sisters

and solitaire.

congratulations to ella on mastering solitaire.

this is good news, right?!

ella turns 10!

 our silly belle turned 10 on

thanksgiving day!

it was so fun to be able to celebrate in
st Louis

at grandpa and grandma's house

with

all

the aunties and uncles and cousins

minus trent, who's serving a mission

 the best way

to begin your special day

*if your name is ella*

is to open a box from

justice!

all things sparkly and girly 

fun decorations

and

presents!



yum!

birthday pancakes

with mya

and clay



aftie puts the finishing touches on the birthday cake



ella said she'd like a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

the kind from the round container

and no ganache!

what can i say?

the girl loves processed food.

grandma slaved away making this darling

birthday crown!

grandma knows how to throw a party!

games galore!

musical chairs!

ella told grandma,

"it will take all of your chairs for the whole family to play!"



the bozo grand prize game!

pin the nose on olaf!

drop clothes pins in a bottle!

ella has always loved playing games

so this was a great way to

celebrate her special day!

thanks so much grandma for the fun games!!!

here's ella and her best buddy, violet

we're pretty sure that miss violetta's

feet rarely touched the ground

the entire week!

she loves to be carried!

aftie made a special sketch book for elle

lots of fun presents!

and the much desired,

begged for,

pleaded for present...

isabelle!

American girl doll of the year

 

happy happy birthday our sweet and funny girl!

we love you and are so excited to watch you grow and become

even more talented and amazing with each passing year.

masterpiece

here is aftie's final unicorn drawing!!!

she worked so hard and it is beautiful!

what a difference a week makes

 

 here are two silly girls who love to dress alike

on the trampoline last week

 ella is spotting miss lil on a backbend

 and here she is with miss mol

just this morning!

who says you can't jump on the trampoline

in the snow?

Happy Snow Day #2!